Sunday, April 21, 2013

Cheung Chau Island--April 14-21, 2013

Monday evening we attended a meeting where a Hindu spiritual leader spoke on the Five Pillars of Spiritual Living which he said are (1) Turn your life over to God; (2) Everything happens for a reason; (3) Do your duty; (4) Do your duty and a little bit more; (5) Practice silence--meditate. We felt that some of the things he said rang true with what we believe but he didn't have the fullness of the Gospel. We were given a special invitation to this meeting by the tailor that many of the senior couples have used. Eighteen of the senior missionaries attended the meeting and then we had the opportunity to personally greet him.

We were saddened to awake Tuesday morning and hear of the bombing at the Boston marathon.

We arrived at the ferry Wednesday morning and saw this U.S. destroyer berthed at the pier next to the ferry pier.

We spent the morning looking at the updates for Family Search and Family Tree. We love the features of adding photos and stories. Tom left work early because he wasn't feeling well. By the time I arrived home he had slept for several hours. We then went to the dinner appointment we had for the new PEF couple that had arrived. The Greporys are from Draper, Utah, and replace the Kellys.

Our Thursday conference call wasn't very productive as only two of the couples were on the line with us. We went to the temple in the evening and had the opportunity to be the witness couple for an endowment session.

This is what greeted us Friday morning instead of the beautiful Hong Kong skyline. The clouds were sitting on the water and we could see the tops of the buildings. Usually it is the reverse.

Because of the dense fog the ferry was delayed and we crossed slowly with the fog horn blowing.

Our Fridays are filled with Garnalee attending Sisters' Institute with a discussion being held on one the conference talks. We discussed President Monson's talk on "Obedience Brings Blessings." We have a Senior Luncheon on Fridays and each of the senior missionaries takes a turn instructing. Sister Bertin gave a presentation on the Elder Lorenzo Snow's mission to northern Italy. He converted many members there. After here presentation Elder Gong invited all of the missionaries to help in a project to consolidate all available information about any country in Asia. That information is then used as the Area Presidency meets with leaders of Asian countries striving for Church recognition. We have volunteered to train all of the missionary couples to use Insite along with providing Family History information.

Saturday we went to Cheung Chau Island, which is a fishing village, as our monthly senior missionary activity. We took the Fast Ferry from Hong Kong Island to Cheung Chau, a 30 minute trip.

The little lady in the boat is bailing water from the boat. She had gone from the little cement pier in the lower right corner of the picture onto the raft. She then pulled herself out to the boat on the left, climbed across to the boat she is in, and continued on to the boat on the right. She moved the big green box and adjusted the motors. She then moved to the middle boat and started bailing water. When she completed her tasks she got on the raft and pulled herself back to the pier.

Lounging among the dried fish. So little time and so much to to choose from.

Not even the rain can slow down the hungry eaters. Missionaries quickly learn to carry an umbrella with them wherever they go just for this situation.

The mode of transportation on the island is the bicycle or by foot.

After reading the sign, Garnalee decided not to go into the water.

There are many interesting rock formations on Cheung Chau. This one is called Elephant Rock. You can see his back, head, and trunk.

One of the elderly local ladies selling dried fish.

Tom went with one group to explore a pirate cave while Garnalee went on the scavenger hunt and climbed the Mini Great Wall. He arrived back at the ferry pier and thought Garnalee had already left. So he got on the slow ferry back to Hong Kong. While he was waiting in line for the ferry to dock, a man approached him and asked, "Are you Tom Harrington from Rigby?" It turned out to be Jay Schusky, former debate coach from Idaho Falls High School. They meet each when Tom was debate coach at Rigby High School. He recognized Tom even though 28 years had passed. Small world! They were able to catch up on those intervening years during the hour long ride back to Central. Jay was in Hong Kong for only four days, so it was an absolute miracle that they even saw each other.